Speaking ahead of the ITV relaunch, the singer said he was particularly upset for his late wife Linda, who had loved the show and did not live long enough to see him return.

“I was p----d off,” he told the Radio Times. “I never got to the bottom of who made the decision. It was between the production company Wall to Wall and the BBC, and I still don’t know why.

Sir Tom at work on The VoiceCredit:
Guy Levy

“The first thing I thought was, ‘Why have they left it so late in the day?’ When we got the call, we said, ‘When did you make this decision?’ ‘Yesterday. And we’re going to give it to the press tomorrow.’ Oh, that’s nice!

“Well of course that’s a kick in the b------s. When I used to work in factories or on a building site, you’d get a week’s notice at least!

"They don’t call you up the day before and say, ‘Sorry, don’t come in tomorrow.’ You don’t make a decision like that overnight.”

He hinted he had been quietly pleased as the ratings dropped after his departure.

Speaking of his wife Linda, he added: “God bless her, she passed away before I was asked to come back. She would like the fact that I’m doing the show now.”